


Wasting Time

by jamiesfreckles



Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Dragon Quest XI Act III Spoilers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Happy Ending, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Selectively Mute Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI), Team as Family, Time Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25550551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamiesfreckles/pseuds/jamiesfreckles
Summary: When Eleven wakes up in the past, the first face he sees is one he thought he would never see again.
Relationships: Camus | Erik/Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI), Hero | Luminary & Veronica (Dragon Quest XI)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	Wasting Time

**Author's Note:**

> I really, really like time travel fics, it turns out. There's just so much potential!! And some very lovely people were very encouraging, so I thought I would share this today. Please, enjoy! <3

Eleven cracked open one eye. His back was aching something fierce and there was a pounding in his skull, but he forced himself upright. The ground beneath his elbows shifted and slid apart, fine grains allowing him to slip a few inches before he sat groggily upright, one hand pressed to the back of his head. 

When he pulled his hand away, it came away red and wet. 

_Oh._ He made the word with his mouth, but no sound escaped. He hadn’t said a word since his Grandfather had died, and the rest of his village had accepted it peaceably, if with a little worry, so it wasn’t unusual. But if there was ever a time to curse aloud or shake with exhilaration and confusion, now was the time. He just couldn’t quite put his finger on why. 

“You!”

There was a flurry of red in front of him, not unlike the red that painted his fingers a gruesome, grim colour, but this red was the red of soft fabric and unbridled fury. He blinked hard enough that the red solidified into a figure, a face that he knew as well enough as his own, one that he’d etched into his mind when it became heart-wrenchingly clear he wouldn’t see it again. 

Veronica stared at him hard, grasping his numb, bloody hands with her own much smaller fingers. She was exactly the same shape and size as she had been when she died. Her eyes were alight with worry and rage, and Eleven couldn’t piece it all together. He didn't even know where he was, let alone what happened. 

“I can’t believe that after everything we went through, you thought it would be a good idea to go back and do it all again,” Veronica snapped. “What were you thinking? Well, obviously you _weren’t_ thinking.”

 _Wait,_ Eleven signed, slow and clumsy. _Wait, I don't understand._

He looked around and found nothing but golden sands as far as the eye could see. Something was moving in the distance, most likely a cluster of monsters with nothing better to do but terrorize folk in the oppressive heat. There was a sheet of solid rock arcing over them, which explained why he couldn’t feel the weight of the sun on his skin, but they were almost certainly in Gallopolis. 

Shimmering lines intersected his vision, and he couldn’t tell if it was the scorching heat bouncing off the sand or the troubled haze of his mind trying to reconnect the pieces of the past. 

“Hang on,” Veronica said, batting his hands away from his head. “I woke up not far away and found you passed out here, but I think you must have hit your head on something. Unless you were already hurt when you smashed open the Time Sphere, but I doubt even you would be that stupid.”

The Time Sphere. Eleven opened his eyes slowly and met Veronica’s gaze, and the whole world slowed to a single heartbeat. As her shimmering magic left her fingers, enveloping him in a cool, mint-scented breeze, the pieces slithered into place. He felt the wound on the back of his head knit together tightly, as though it had never split open in the first place. 

“There,” Veronica said. “Not as good as - as Serena’s healing magic, but it’s better than nothing.”

The way her voice stuttered on her sister’s name was confirmation enough that his memory wasn’t a dream. 

_You died,_ Eleven signed. _You died, and I went back in time, and… and you’ve come with me?_

Veronica was uncharacteristically quiet as she knelt before him in the sand, beside his sprawled, trembling legs. He didn't think they could hold him up if he tried to stand. He watched her small hands push back a lock of pale, straw-like hair, and he watched the way she bit her lip thoughtfully. Everything she did seemed to teem with life, every small action brimming with vitality. 

Then she sighed so huffily that it brought a smile to his lips, even as tears gathered in his eyes. 

“I don't know what happened. I was minding my own business, watching you all make your usual mistakes, and then suddenly I was rushing towards that blue ball. The Time Sphere. I was with you the whole time, you know. I saw everything. And I was okay with that because the world was finally fixed, but now you’ve done this, and I don't know what we’re supposed to do!”

Eleven dragged his wobbly knees towards him, crossing his legs. His hand was still bloody, so he wiped it on his trousers, noting faintly that they were the same ones he wore when he fought the Slayer of the Sands. He recognised the thin, itchy material. That gave him a bad feeling, but he chose not to dwell on it, not when Veronica was right there in front of him. 

She was _right there_ in front of him, and she wasn’t slumped against a tree or faint as a memory in his mind. 

“It could be that my soul came with you when you travelled through time, or it could be that there’s another version of me running around somewhere.” Veronica crossed her arms and scowled. “For everyone else’s sake, I hope not.”

Eleven laughed. It was a giddy, almost uncontrolled sound that felt a bit hysterical in his throat, and sounded even more so out loud. But he had no intentions of dragging it back and polishing it off. He let himself laugh and dry-sob until his head was hunched and his shoulders were shaking, and he only looked up when a burst of tiny, equally hysterical giggles escaped Veronica’s pursed lips. 

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Veronica said, and then she pressed both hands over her mouth and broke down. 

Eleven wasn’t sure if she was laughing or crying. He had a painful mixed-up feeling that it was both, and he found himself reaching out tentatively, pulling her into his side. She nestled there quite easily, quaking like a leaf. 

Eleven had grown up with Gemma, but for all he loved her, he had never viewed her as a sister. He used to bug his mother endlessly for a new baby, tugging on the ends of her apron and peering up at her with wide eyes, bemoaning the state of things. He had been so sure, back then, that he would make the best big brother ever. He would show his little sister the forts they built out of broken branches, and he would teach them not just how to fish but how to swim like fish in the Falls, and they would love stew just as much as he did. 

Maybe he couldn’t do all those things now, and maybe Veronica didn't need protecting or impressing, but Eleven couldn’t help but think that he might have been given a sister after all. 

It was a few minutes before they drew away, both wiping their eyes. 

“Don't say anything about that to anyone,” Veronica said. “Especially not to Erik. He won’t let me live it down, and I’ll have to throw him overboard, and it’s going to waste so much time.”

Eleven snorted, shaking his head. _We don't even have the boat yet, I think. I thought time would spit me out closer to the fall._

The fall was what he called it, because he didn't have a word or a phrase for the darkness and despair that swept over him when he thought of Yggdrasil tumbling out of the air. 

_I didn't think I would remember, either,_ Eleven added, after a thoughtful pause. _And I especially didn't think you would be here. But I’m so glad you are._

Veronica’s cheeks turned pink. She looked studiously away across the sand, her eyes fixing on a few dry reeds swaying slightly in the hot breeze. If they had landed where Eleven thought they had landed, then the campsite where his friends were waiting was only a short walk away. And then it was on to fight the Slayer of the Sands, and then on again to fight so many more things that they had already destroyed, already sent toppling. 

There had been so much pain and hardship, and now he wondered if there had been any point to it after all, if it had been worth it at all. 

His eyes landed on Veronica as she pulled herself to her feet, and it didn't take long to come to the conclusion that yes, it was worth it. It was worth it all and so much more if it meant there was a chance to save the girl standing in front of him. 

“Come on, then.” Veronica put her hands on her hips and stared down at him haughtily. “We might have more time now, but that doesn’t mean I want to spend it sitting around with you. We can figure out what to do about all this later.”

Eleven hid a smile as he got to his feet, brushing the sand off his clothes. His head still ached a little, but the woozy feeling was gone, and his back didn't hurt at all. Sand clung to his fingers where the blood hadn’t wiped off properly, and he grimaced. He was going to be in an even worse state after they fought the Slayer of the Sands, but he still found himself longing for a soak in a cool lake, and a belly full of food. 

“Oi!”

Erik came stalking over the dunes, out of the sunlight, looking for all the world like a badgered and beleaguered child. A weight that he didn't know was there lifted off Eleven’s chest, and he sighed in relief. It was going to be different, he knew. This Erik was still prickly and unsure, still prone to spending his nights at the very edge of the campfire, still less free with his words and his touches. But this Erik still looked at Eleven with undisguised worry and relief, the way he had since their very first meeting, and that was all Eleven needed. 

Veronica made a small noise that could have been another sob, before she pushed it down and drew herself up, steadying herself. Eleven’s heart ached for her, but he let her stand on her own. 

“Oh, Goddess,” Veronica murmured suddenly. “Give me giant monsters and falling trees any day. I’m going to have to watch you two pine from the beginning all over again.”

If Erik was taken aback by the way Eleven suddenly launched himself forward, slapping a frantic hand over Veronica’s cackling mouth, then he didn't show it. He simply stalked to a stop and raised an eyebrow, somehow both amused and impatient in the way that only Erik could portray. 

“If you’ve finished wasting time, we should really get going,” Erik said. “We’re only going to get one shot at taking this thing down, you know.”

Eleven glanced down at Veronica, which proved to be a mistake, since it provoked more of that bubbling hysterical laughter. But he managed to cough it back and let go of Veronica, who brushed herself down with her nose held high. 

“I’ve been ready for ages,” Veronica said. “It’s this idiot that needs the pep-talk. I found him knocked out on one of those rocks.”

Erik’s eyes widened, and he darted forward, scanning Eleven critically for gaping wounds while Veronica ducked behind him. Eleven scowled at her cheeky grin and snapped his own hand down from his mouth, the most sarcastic _thank you_ to ever grace his hands. She bowed gracefully, and then took off across the sands, and Eleven almost wanted to call her back, but he knew she wouldn’t be swayed. Not when Serena was waiting for her at the campsite. 

“You’re alright?” Erik said, lowering his voice. 

The last thing Erik had said to him was _see you on the other side._ Now it was the other side, and Eleven could see him, but Erik could remember none of it. Or maybe he wasn’t the Erik that Eleven knew. But something in him still warmed at the sound of his voice, at the concern in his tone, and he found himself smiling fondly. Those bright eyes widened even further, and Eleven wondered if perhaps he’d overstepped, if perhaps the Eleven from this time hadn’t looked at Erik with such indisguised love. 

But that couldn’t be, he decided, because he had pretty much always loved Erik. And even if he had been more subtle before, he couldn’t imagine hiding it for so long this time. So he kept looking, and brushed his fingers over Erik’s, and smiled. 

_I’m okay,_ Eleven signed. _Veronica found me, and made sure I was okay._

He really did feel okay, he realised. The sky was clear of the violent darkness, and there was no somber feeling in the air. There was no space at his side that should have been filled with his friend. Erik was here, and Veronica was here, and they had a chance to make it so that things stayed that way. 

_Come on,_ Eleven said, falling into step beside Erik, who looked at him like he had never seen him before. _Like you said. We shouldn’t waste time._

**Author's Note:**

> I sort of want to poke this some more, but it works well enough on its own, I think. I really hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you're keeping well!! <3


End file.
